Evaluation exposes infighting among trustees at Delta

STOCKTON - It was a pop-the-cork day at San Joaquin Delta College when four new trustees were sworn in last December.

Alex Breitler

STOCKTON - It was a pop-the-cork day at San Joaquin Delta College when four new trustees were sworn in last December.

The college had endured months of negative publicity due at least in part to the actions and behavior of the old board. Voters tossed four trustees in an unprecedented November election.

Today, for the new board, the honeymoon is over. A self-evaluation made public this week exposes a divide among some trustees, a lack of trust and an apparent struggle for control.

The evaluation, discussed in a public meeting, says that while the board has learned much about Delta and has done well advocating its cause to the community, trustees disagree over their effectiveness, their ethics and their working relationship with college President Raul Rodriguez.

In an anonymous questionnaire, three of the seven trustees disagreed with the statement that the board "works together in a spirit of harmony and cooperation."

"We are a split board," Trustee Mary Ann Cox said. "We don't have a good relationship at this time, and I think it's important to make that clear."

To be sure, the board and its five new members - four elected, one appointed - have been scrambling uphill from the start. When they took office, the college had been blasted by a grand jury and was at risk of losing accreditation; now it's dealing with severe budget cuts.

A "needs improvement" self-evaluation might be understandable for a brand-new board faced with such pressing issues, Trustee Teresa Brown said.

"I think what we have on this board are seven members who are extremely intelligent (and) have strong backgrounds ... and strong personalities," she said.

"We're all going to have our points of view," Brown said. "There are times when we're just going to have to go with the consensus."

Some board members say they've had difficulty getting items on the agenda for discussion. One trustee commented that relations between the board and Rodriguez need a "major overhaul." Another said, without offering specifics, that some trustees are putting personal agendas before the welfare of the college - a charge that at times plagued the old board.

Rodriguez said he thought Tuesday's public review was helpful and added that he's excited to keep working with the board. He said he did not think a "major overhaul" in his relationship with the board was necessary, although he said, "There are certainly areas where there needs to be further clarification of roles, responsibilities and expectations."